St. Konrad (courtyard)
St. Konrad is a Roman Catholic church in the parish of Bernhard-Lichtenberg in the Bavarian town of Hof . It is located in the Neuhof district . From 1956 to 2010 it was the seat of a Jesuit branch .
About history
Before 1933 there were about 6,000 Catholics in Hof. With the influx of thousands of refugees and displaced persons at the end of the Second World War , the Catholic community grew to over 13,000 people, so that the Marienkirche in Hof became too small.
In 1951, the Hof parish of St. Marien on Ernst-Reuter-Strasse in the Neuhof district acquired a building site to build a second church. The architect Franz Raith was commissioned with the planning by pastor Prelate Michael Gehringer. Construction began in the summer of 1953, and on October 13, 1954, the new church was consecrated by Bamberg's Archbishop Josef Otto Kolb. In 1956, two years after the completion of the church, St. Konrad was removed from the parish church and made a parish. The parish of the city was divided, St. Konrad extends over the western and northern Hofer city area and St. Marien over the eastern and southern area of the city. The first pastor of the new parish was Franz zu Löwenstein, who campaigned for the pastoral care in St. Konrad to be led by Jesuits in the future . When the Hof convent was founded, the priests lived in the basement of what was then the kindergarten. In March 1957 the move into the newly built rectory took place. Three sisters of the Oberzell Franciscan Congregation also moved into the rectory in November 1957.
In the first 15 years of its existence, the St. Konrad Church was sparse and had little inventory. To the left of the main entrance, a baptistery was built in 1959 with a baptismal font and a bronze Christ. On November 18, 1967, the extension with the parish hall and kindergarten on Ernst-Reuter-Strasse was inaugurated. In 1971, in the course of the Second Vatican Council , the St. Konrad Church began to be redesigned. The artist Hubert Weber from Lichtenfels was commissioned. He designed the new windows as well as the furnishings of the room and other art objects. The new altar, a block of marble on a cruciform base, was erected at the beginning of 1972 and consecrated eight months later by Auxiliary Bishop Martin Wiesend.
For the choir wall behind the altar, Weber designed a mosaic that spanned almost the entire height of the building. In stylistic unity with the stone mosaic on the altar wall are the standing altar cross, the ambo, the candlestick on the altar and the tabernacle, in turn made of bronze by Hubert Weber. In front of the tabernacle, to the left of the choir, there is a life-size bronze sculpture by Hubert Weber , which shows the Holy Brother Konrad . The two portals of the church, designed with bronze plates, the Easter gate on the north facade and the Christmas gate on the west facade were also made by Hubert Weber. Each of the two wings of the Easter Gate, built in 1983, juxtaposes a scene from the Old Testament with a corresponding one from the New Testament on four pairs of plates arranged one below the other . The Christmas gate was built in 1980. The content of the bronze plates takes up the prophetic view of the Old Testament on the one hand and the fulfillment of the promises of salvation from the Gospels, which tell of Jesus' childhood, on the other.
The most recent works of art in St. Konrad were made by the sculptor and plasterer Elisabeth Schindler-Rutzika , who lived and worked in Hof until her death. She designed the Madonna, which is placed on the right wall of the church, near the entrance to the sacristy . The 14-part way of the cross on both long sides of the building also comes from her . The rectangular stone reliefs show the stations of the Passion of Jesus. The St. Konrad Church has four bells ringing (e1, g1, a1, cis2).
By a resolution of the parish councils and church administrations of St. Marien and St. Konrad in 2015 and the approval of the Archbishop of Bamberg and the Bavarian State Ministry, the two pastoral care areas in Hof have formed the Catholic Parish Bernhard Lichtenberg since July 1, 2017 . The branch church foundations were abolished and the churches were integrated into the new parish as places of worship.
organ
The two-manual organ with 25 registers and a free pipe prospectus was built from 1957 by the Steinmeyer company from Oettingen (Opus 1941) and inaugurated at Christmas 1958. Maintenance and care is now in the hands of Orgelbau Hörl from Helmbrechts . The disposition is as follows:
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Normal coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Branch churches
St. Heinrich
Made of local natural stone, the chapel in Untertiefengrün with its barred forecourt is reminiscent of a small castle. The slender windows resemble the historic fortified churches in the vicinity. The interior is like an inverted boat hull. The simplicity and beauty of the design make up the church's timeless charm. Located on the slope, it is visible to the neighboring state of Thuringia. Their bells can be heard far into the Saale valley.
In 1932 the chapel was largely financed from private funds. It was consecrated to Saint Henry . Special features include a picture of St. Kunigunde and a picture of Mary donated by Carl Orff . The church, which can hold around seventy believers, is located on the Berger Winkel hiking trail and invites hikers to reflect.
Mary Queen of Peace
In 1946 refugees came to Leupoldsgrün and a small Catholic community with 150 people was created. The pastoral care was initially taken over by St. Marien in Hof. On September 5, 1956, it was incorporated into the parish of St. Konrad in Hof. On September 8, 1960, a piece of land was purchased for the purpose of building a new church. Under the direction of Father zu Löwenstein SJ and civil engineer Hofrichter, planning, calculations and negotiations about the financing began. The shell was built in-house. The foundation stone was laid on October 5, 1961. On December 8, 1962, the building was consecrated in the name of Maria König des Friedens .
The chancel is lit from both sides through large windows. The marble altar stone is raised by two steps. There is a large wooden cross on the front wall. The tabernacle with the holy of holies stands on a marble column to the left of the altar. Church members donated liturgical devices and a statue of the Sacred Heart. The statue of the Mother of God with Baby Jesus in her arms is a gift from the American congregation in Hof. The American soldiers also donated the bells and the associated electric bell. In 1998 a community home was added to the church.
Mary of Perpetual Help
In the summer of 1950, a corrugated iron barrack in the former Konradsreuther Wachtelgasse was consecrated as a temporary worship room by Prelate Michael Gehringer from Hof. Until then, the Protestant community had made its church available.
The interior of this first church was furnished by local craftsmen and patrons. In 1957 it was decided to build a new Catholic church. Most of the work was done in-house. On December 8, 1957, the church was consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Landgraf and Father zu Löwenstein SJ. On December 9, 1990, an extension to include a community center was completed and on October 11, 1992 Archbishop Elmar Maria Kredel consecrated the altar of the renovated church. With a new organ and the erection of a new bell tower, the construction was completed.
St. Joseph
The chapel was built in 1957; its predecessor was a prayer room in a barrack in the Hof St. Joseph settlement. When the barrack, which also housed a kindergarten, was demolished, the community collected money for building materials and built the St. Joseph's Chapel according to the plans of the architect Franz Bruhs from Lamitz. The consecration on June 20, 1959 was carried out by Prelate Michael Gehringer. Thanks to numerous donations, the Josefskapelle was renovated in 2008. The Hof artist Helmut Klasen created pictures on ceramic tiles. They show the life of Jesus .
St. Pius
A church building association was founded in 1972 to build the St. Pius Church in Hof's Münsterviertel; beforehand, a survey was carried out on the design and financing of the church. The inauguration took place in 1977 by the Archbishop of Bamberg, Elmar Maria Kredel .
Pastor
- The first pastor was Father Franz zu Löwenstein SJ.
- From 1963 to 1986, Father Johannes Sommer SJ was pastor of St. Konrad.
- He was succeeded in 1986 by Father Josef Singer SJ.
- From 1996 to 2010 Father Peter Waibel SJ was pastor of St. Konrad. In August 2010 the Hof Jesuit Convention was dissolved.
- Since September 2010, Hans-Jürgen Wiedow has been the priest of the Archdiocese of Bamberg for the first time . Since July 1, 2017, Pastor Wiedow has headed the new city-wide parish Bernhard Lichtenberg.
literature
- Johannes M. Nolte: The Catholic court on the Saale then and now. Rome 1929.
- Ernst Dietlein: Chronicle of the city of Hof. Volume 4: Church History. North Upper Franconian Association for Nature, History and Regional Studies, Hof 1955.
- Michael Gehringer: The Catholic Court in the Past and Present. Yard 1955.
- Church leader St. Konrad. Catholic rectory of St. Konrad Hof.
- Friedrich Ebert, Axel Herrmann: A short history of the city court. Hoermann, Hof 1988, ISBN 3-88267-034-7 .
- Ludger Stühlmeyer : Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. A study on the culture of Upper Franconia. From the foundation of the Bamberg diocese to the present. Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-89889-155-4 .
- Ludger Stühlmeyer: A haven of calm and a place of change - the Heinrichskapelle in Untertiefengrün . In: Yearbook of the Archdiocese of Bamberg 95th year 2020. Heinrichs-Verlag, Bayerische Verlagsanstalt Bamberg 2019.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Church leader St. Konrad. Catholic rectory of St. Konrad Hof.
- ^ Ludger Stühlmeyer: Curia sonans. The music history of the city of Hof. Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2010, pp. 215-234, 269-270.
- ↑ Der Lichtenberg , Parish Letter Issue No. 1, June 29, 2017
- ^ Organ in St. Konrad, Hof , accessed on December 17, 2017.
Coordinates: 50 ° 19 ′ 20.2 ″ N , 11 ° 53 ′ 57.5 ″ E